A new season dawned for UWMCC and they would be up against their nemesis of last year, Kineton CC. Some fresh faces were to make their debuts with seb (cheeky) sander coming in for injured Ash and Curtis Rose being brought in to fill the new UWMCC quota system. Captain Murphy picked up his old smooth driving ways quickly, back in the comfort of the British engineered Vauxhall, as the boys travelled back to the connexion arena. Kineton won the toss and elected to bowl, although there was no doubt what Murphy wanted to do (obviously bat).
Another bright start was helped with some very wayward bowling which left the boys 29-0 off three overs with a very solid platform to build on. However, the next over saw both openers falling in the space of three balls, with Samay being run out batting with Gemes (shock, although this time was probably Samay’s fault) before Gemes chipped straight to cover, for a solid 16. This brought Tim and Murphy to the crease with both batting aggressively, Tim scoring a magnificent six down the ground and a slightly fortunate drop for four, while Murphy batted aggressively through the leg side, with every shot inappropriate for the indoor cage environment. Again at 67-2 off 6 we looked to have recovered but Murphy fell being bowled by a straight ball and with debutants now coming to the crease, runs were at a premium. Tim fell the next over, just short of retirement, and it was left to Cheeky and Curtis to put us to a defendable total. A lack of communication saw Cheeky being run out which left Curtis 9 balls on debut to do something special. What occurred was the most bizarre shot in UWMCC history as Curtis managed to Chinese cut a scoop shot to fine leg from a yard outside off stump, bemusing everyone inside the arena. Curtis finished on 19* to leave UWMCC on 97.
New bowlers Seb and Curtis, opened the bowling, both showing a sign of good things to come, with Seb going for only 12 in his first two overs. There was also huge run out appeal third ball which was not given, which would’ve seen their ‘unbelievable’ batsman out but it was a sign of difficult things to come. Wickets could not be found but the run rate was kept low as Kineton were 38-0 off 5, which would have looked significantly better if the captain hadn’t bottled the easiest catch off his own bowling. Run outs looked to be our only chance then as the batsmen were suicide running to get back in the game, and this week were actually able to hit the stumps which meant, with Curtis’ no look ‘I know it’s out’ and Gemes throwing down the bowlers end with gloves on being particularly impressive.
The equation was left at 27 off 2 and Curtis bowled even better, despite going for 13. This meant Seb had the task of holding them to less than 14 runs, knowing two dots would win us the game. But much like the last game against them, the balls would just not go cleanly into hand and they were able to knock off the runs. A deflated team was deflated even further by Gemes who threatened that he was so upset he wouldn’t be able to go club bowling later, before Murphy told him to stop being such pussy and grow up. The team were yet again treated to another Samay sandwich eating exhibition, taking down two on the way back, scenes of which had Roche quaking in his boots. Another close one but with last seasons winners being played, the squad will look to push on from this encouraging performance.